<p>Flossy, the uninsured market is fluid. This doesnt mean there aren’t a number of people that are uninsured for a long time. </p>
<p>We know from many surveys and census numbers that half the uninsured could not afford insurance. We know there were a couple of millon people or more that could not buy insurance. We know there were quite a few people that could buy insurance but the insurance did not cover preconditions. Also, some insurance companies found ways to raise premiums on some of those with preconditions. Insurance companies admit this. This isnt a secret.</p>
<p>ACA addresses these issues. Not perfectly. But much better than what we had last year. What we had last year for insurance is why we had these issues. </p>
<p>So why isnt everybody going to be covered under ACA? We arent covering illegals. We arent expanding medicaid in some states. We have a mandate but we are not forcing everybody to become insured. </p>
<p>Flossy, that’s true that the uninsured isn’t a monolithic group. Some lack coverage for only a short time, some for a season of their life due to unemployment or other setback, and some have never had coverage. I don’t know the sizes of those various groups, but ACA can help all of them. </p>
<p>IMO one way to address ED usage is to provide more off-hours urgent care centers so that people without an emergency who need to be seen by a doctor have a place to go.</p>
<p>Eh, 6.2 million is what Gaba was predicting a week ago. And you were predicting 6.3. The actual number of 6.8-7 is a good surprise to many, so I don’t fault the 6.2 million predictions. Exponential growth is exponential.</p>
<p>If you call healthcare.gov right now, the automated system takes your info and says they’ll call you back after April 1, but don’t worry, you’ll still get coverage for 2014. I guess the phone-answerers are busy answering questions from people who don’t want to buy insurance.</p>
<p>This should be a case study in the power of procrastination. There were 125,000 people on the healthcare.gov website at one time today. People, people, you had six months to do this. Six months! Did you have to wait until the last ten hours?</p>
<p>And yet, I’m one of the wait-until-the-last-minute people. Not for health insurance, but for a lot of things. So I understand perfectly.</p>
<p>LasMa, great to see you here. I think it has been 4 years since Anthem tried to shove a 38 percent increase down our throats. Great day today . :)</p>
<p>Great to CF is here. She has been making great points for months. </p>
<p>On another note, I know somebody that got a bill in late Feb that was due Feb 1st. Talk about procrastination. Paid today. I hope the insurance company takes the payment. :)</p>
<p>“If you call healthcare.gov right now, the automated system takes your info and says they’ll call you back after April 1, but don’t worry, you’ll still get coverage for 2014. I guess the phone-answerers are busy answering questions from people who don’t want to buy insurance.”</p>
I hope the insurance company takes the payment. :)</p>